England never won a World Cup despite inventing the game

FE Sports Desk

The Cricket World Cup burst into existence in 1975 and England reached three of the first five finals. England lost them all and haven't reached the final again since.

The Game of Cricket has been in existence since the 16th century. It was born in southern England and ended up becoming the national sport of the country in the 18th century.

Nearly a century later in 1975, The 'International Cricket Council', which is the governing body of the sport, organised its very first limited overs Cricket World Cup. Till date, a total of eleven Cricket World Cups have been organised so far.

England have appeared in every edition of the Cricket World Cup to date, but have never won the competition, with their best performances being losing finalists in 1979, 1987 and 1992. They have also been eliminated in the Group stage of the competitions on 3 occasions: 1999, 2003 and 2015.

England have hosted the most World Cups: a total of 5 (including the first three World Cups). They hosted it in 1975, 1979, 1983, 1999 and 2019. England are also the only nation to have hosted a World Cup alone, doing it in 1975 and 1979. In 1983 and 1999, despite being regarded as the only host for the tournament, some matches were played in Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Wales.

These are England's World Cup tales of woe, death threats to a lot of defeats.

In 1975 World Cup, the inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted by England, the only nation able to put forward the resources to stage an event of such magnitude at the time. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls. England won all their group stage matches but lost in their semi-final match against Australia.

In the semi-final, England were reduced to 37/7 as Gary Gilmour took 6/14 the best World Cup bowling figures at the time. They were eventually bowled out for 93 in 36.2 overs. Australia initially suffered a collapse just as dramatic, falling to 39/6 before Gary Gilmour scored 28 from 28 balls to help Australia to victory.

In 1979 World Cup, the 1979 Cricket World Cup was once again held in England. England won all of their group matches, and defeated New Zealand in a close semi-final by 9 runs. In the final, they lost to the West Indies.

In the final, the West Indies got off to a bad start, falling to 99/4. However, a "match winning performance" of 138 from 157 balls from Vivian Richards, and an aggressive innings from Collis King (86 from 66 balls) consolidated the innings with a 139 run partnership, as the West Indies scored 286/9 from 60 overs.

However, the loss of Gooch triggered the biggest collapse in World Cup history, as England lost 8/11. Joel Garner took 5/3 in 11 balls. They were eventually all out for 194 in 51 overs.

In 1983 World Cup, England were the host nation for the third consecutive tournament. They won 5 of their 6 group stage matches, losing against New Zealand, and qualified for the semi-final. In the semi-final, they were defeated by India "with great ease".

In the semi-final, England batted first, and reached 69 before losing opener Chris Tavaré. Medium pacer Mohinder Amarnath and off-spinner Kirti Azad helped slow the scoring rate, as England only managed 213 from their 60 overs. In reply, Yashpal Sharma (61 from 115 balls) and Sandeep Patil (51 from 32 balls) made half-centuries, and Amarnath and Yashpal's managed a 92 run partnership. India reached their target in 54.4 overs, winning the match by 6 wickets.

In 1987 World Cup, England matched their previous best performance, by reaching the final before losing to Australia.

In the final, Australia won the toss and chose to bat. David Boon (75 from 125 balls, 7 fours) top-scored for Australia helped by Mike Veletta (45 from 31 balls), Australia scored 65 runs from the last 6 overs of their innings, and posted 253/5 from their 50 overs. England opener Tim Robinson was out lbw for a first ball duck. Bill Athey (58 from 103 balls) top-scored, and England were almost on target.

However, when captain Mike Gatting (41 from 45 balls) was out playing an attempted reverse sweep off the occasional off-spin bowling of Allan Border, this ended a growing partnership of 69 runs in 13 overs between him and Bill Athey. Allan Lamb's innings of 45 from 55 balls was insufficient, as the required run-rate for England began to rise, requiring 17 off the last over, and eventually losing by 7 runs.

In 1992 World Cup, England reached their third World Cup final, and again lost in the final, this time to Pakistan.

England were favourites to win, having bowled out Pakistan for just 74 earlier in the tournament. A repeat looked possible when Derek Pringle dismissed both Pakistani openers, making the score 24/2. However, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad settled down to see off the new ball. A crucial moment occurred when Imran Khan was dropped by Graham Gooch at 9 runs. Imran, later, went on to score 72 .

England's start was shaky. A solid partnership of 71 between Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother left Imran with no choice but to give an early second spell to his main pacer Wasim Akram in the 35th over. The decision wrote the fate of the match.

In 1996 World Cup, England reached the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup, before being eliminated by Sri Lanka. England failed to make the semis for the first time in six World Cups.

In 1999 World Cup, England hosted the 1999 Cricket World Cup. After defeats to South Africa and India, England failed to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament, for the first time in the tournament history.

In 2003 World Cup, England forfeited their first match against Zimbabwe due to security concerns in Zimbabwe. Of the remaining 5 games, they won 3, but for the second consecutive World Cup, England failed to progress from the Group Stage.

In 2007 World Cup, after failing to progress from the Group Stage at the 1999 and 2003 World Cups, England managed to progress to the Super 8 stage of the tournament, by winning both their matches against Associate Nations. In the Super 8 stage, they were eliminated, beating Ireland, Bangladesh and West Indies but losing to 4 other Test-playing nations.

In 2011 World Cup, in the group stages, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh. However, a victory against South Africa and a tie against eventual winners India helped England progress to the quarter-finals, where they lost to Sri Lanka.

In the quarter-final, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga both made centuries as Sri Lanka chased down a target of 230 to win by ten wickets. This run chase set a new record for the highest successful run chase in a ten-wicket victory in ODI history.

In 2015 World Cup, England failed to beat any Test-playing nations at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Although they beat Associate nations Scotland and Afghanistan, this was not enough to qualify for the knockout stage. This was the third time that they had not progressed from the Group stage.

In 2019, the Sri Lanka defeat raises questions about England's temperament after starting as World Cup favourites following a dominant period in one-day internationals (ODI) where Morgan has led them to No 1 in the rankings.

England remain third on the table with eight points for the time being. But their three remaining matches are tough ones, against Australia, India and New Zealand. They need to win two of those games to guarantee a spot in the semi-finals.